Our new itinerary!!!…With a few gaps…In time, we’ll fill them!…

Marloth Park, South Africa	56	6/21/2018 – 8/16/2018
Zambia – Chobe National Park – Chobe River	7	8/16/2018 – 8/23/2018
Marloth Park, South Africa	89	8/23/2018 – 11/20/2018
Leave South Africa for visa – not booked	7	11/20/2018-11/27/2018
Marloth Park, South Africa	89	11/27/18 – 2/21/2019
Marloth Park SA to Kenya – tour booked	15	2/21/19 – 3/8/2019
Valparaiso, Chile- hotel stay – not booked	15	3/9/2019 – 3/24/2019
Cruise – San Antonio, Chile – San Diego	14	3/24/2019 – 4/8/2019
San Diego – fly to Minnesota – hotel stay	17	4/8/2019 – 4/25/2019
Cruise – Fort Lauderdale to Copenhagen	16	4/26/2019 – 5/12/2019
Ireland – Connemara – house rented	90	5/12/2019 – 8/9/2019
Amsterdam – hotel stay – not booked	2	8/9/2019 – 8/11/2019
Cruise – Baltic – Amsterdam to Amsterdam	12	8/11/2019 – 8/23/2019
England – rent countryside house – not booked	62	8/23/2019 -10/24/2019
Cruise – Southampton to Fort Lauderdale	15	10/24/2019-11/8/2019
Las Vegas, NV – Los Angeles, CA – Scottsdale, AZ	22	11/8/2019 – 12/3/2019
Ecuador – Galapagos – rent a vacation home – not booked	89	12/3/2019 – 3/01/2020
Peru – Machu Picchu – rent vacation home, visit site	30	3/01/2020 –  3/31/2020
The Pantanal/Amazon River Cruise – Brazil (2 cruises)	30	3/31/2020 – 4/30/2020
Gap – to be booked	134	4/30/2020 – 9/11/2020
Minnesota – family visit – not booked	14	9/11/2020 – 9/25/2020
Gap – to be booked	46	9/25/2020 -11/10/2020
Cruise – Lisbon to Cape Town	22	11/10/2020 -12/2/2020
Cape Town/Marloth Park	90	12/2/2020 – 3/1/2021
Number of days	983

 *Cruises are indicated turquoise shading

“Photo of the Day in the Bush”

At night, Little Wart Face lies down for a nap, exhausted from eating pellets and his busy day.

A few days ago, when we mentioned we’d be updating our itinerary and posting it in the next few months, we became motivated to get it updated now rather than wait. 

We attempt to post a recent itinerary every six months, but it doesn’t always work out that way when plans are still up in the air.  Although we have several gaps and un-booked events listed in the above itinerary, we aren’t concerned about booking these now, especially those out more than a year or two.

Lots of zebras in the yard after dark.

It’s possible but tricky to book anything two years out, other than a few cruises here and there, as indicated above. Most owners of holiday/vacation homes prefer not to commit to a booking so far out, mainly when we often request discounts based on two factors: one, our long term stays and…two, the frequent online exposure of their property, which may result in more bookings for them from our worldwide readers.

We fully understand the hesitancy. When we find a possible holiday/vacation home, we’re interested in renting, if the owner says, “Check back in a year,” we seldom check back. When we’re ready to book, we’re ready to book and prefer not to spend time “checking back.”

The same goes for cruises. When we find a cruise we’d like, we usually book it within 48 hours of discovering it to ensure the choice of our preferred cabin and to take advantage of any early booking promotions that may be offered at the time.

After the zebras left, female kudus and youngsters arrived.

The good thing about working with Vacations to Go is they offer the lowest possible price (with perks) up until the final payment date, which is usually 75 to 90 days before the “sail date.”

As we’ve mentioned in prior posts, Tom checks prices for any cruises we’ve already booked almost daily. If he finds a cruise we’ve booked at a lower cost and with better “perks,” he’ll contact Vacations to Go to request the price adjustments. Once completed, we’ll receive an entirely new “cruise confirmation” document with the latest pricing and perks.

Cute young kudu.  Note the bushbabies knocked over their cup of yogurt on the stand above.

This process has served us well. Over the years, we’ve saved thousands of dollars on cruises making the almost-daily extra effort worthwhile.  But many cruise passengers don’t bother to check (or their agency doesn’t offer this feature), and the cruise line will not do the checking for you.

Contact your travel agency or however you’ve booked the cruise for the price reductions. Again, many travelers don’t take the time to check frequently enough for “daily specials.” Once the special offering is gone, one may not benefit from its price changes.

This morning, baby zebra nursing.

Fortunately, price increases do not have any bearing on existing reservations. As for the six/seven cruises, as shown above, we have not yet booked the Amazon River and Pantanal cruises which we’ll book within a year.

As for the other cruises as indicated above, most will stay in place. We’ve yet to cancel a cruise we’ve booked. On a few occasions, the cruise line has canceled a cruise we’d booked, and we had to make other plans with little compensation for the change.

Cruising is an excellent option for us for many reasons. Generally, it’s a cost-effective opportunity to see more of the world, rather than flying from place to place. Plus, it’s a lot more fun to sail between countries than fly on airplanes. Often, we use cruises to get us from one country to another where we may stay for some time.